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The Data Is Clear: Prevention and Treatment are Key to Saving Lives and Money

New Harvard Study Finds Half of Cancer Deaths Could Be Prevented; Emory University Studying Even Better Prevention Options for Chronic Diseases

CNBC recently reported on a new study out of Harvard Medical School that found, “20 to 40 percent of cancer cases, and half of cancer deaths, could be prevented if people quit smoking, avoided heavy drinking, kept a healthy weight, and got just a half hour a day of moderate exercise.”

The researchers looked at “data from long-term studies of about 140,000 health professionals who update researchers on their health every two years for the analysis. … They broke the 140,000 people into two groups: those with a healthy lifestyle, and everyone else.” The results: “Only about 28,000 of the people qualified as following a healthy lifestyle. When the rates of cancer in their group were compared to rates in the rest of the volunteers, the differences were clear.”

In short: “’Cancer is preventable,’ Dr. Graham Colditz and Dr. Siobhan Sutcliffe of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis agreed in a commentary.”

This is consistent with recent chronic disease data from PFCD that found more than 1 million lives and $6.3 trillion could be saved over the next 15 years with behavioral changes and treatment advances.

There is some good news. Atlanta’s 11 Alive News also reports, “Emory is on a mission to help people not only live longer but live healthier. Researchers are putting together a study that is truly one of a kind and could mean a lot to future generations. … Over a long period of time, researchers will study participants like Sayers so they can someday treat and potentially cure chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer.”

It’s efforts like these that should be guiding the health care conversation and can help transform society in the United States.